Migration is not a new concept and has been occurring throughout the world for many years. Migration can be voluntary or involuntary and can occur for a variety of different reasons. Some of these reasons include economic, environmental, and social issues. In the United States, we are always hearing about migrants crossing over the border to seek out a new life and new opportunities. To be more specific, this post will be talking about Illinois and the city of Chicago to give you a relation to what’s happening in our own back yard. It is also important to understand that while numbers will be used for prevalence, this is not 100% accurate as there are cases that go unreported.
Since 2022, Chicago has welcomed over 20,000 asylum seekers and migrants into the city1. With the influx of migrants entering Chicago, in fiscal year 2023, 3,271 were unaccompanied children. 2An unoccupied minor is someone without legal status who enters the United States that is under the age of 18 and is not accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. 3Imagine being a child and one day making the decision to leave behind everything you know in hopes for more because you can no longer stay and live the way you are. Going into a new country is always a new learning experience for anyone. Different culture, language and even laws. When you are now living there, your immigration status plays a role as well.
These barriers make unoccupied minors very susceptible to of being trafficked for sexual, labor, or criminal exploitation. Instinct drives the minors into survival mode to make money for themselves along with having the pressure to send money back home. A lot of the time, the minors are sending money back home to their families but are in debt. Their debts usually come from sponsors for smuggling fees, rent and living expenses. This is a cycle that leads children into labor trafficking. Children being forced to work in dangerous jobs just to pay off the debts and support their families. The fact that they are children slides under the radar because companies rely of staffing agencies or temp agencies where it is not always a requirement to check social security numbers. There are circumstances where unoccupied children come into the US and Chicago by false pretenses only to be coerced into labor.
There is the notion that trafficking only occurs in far places, but it happens in our local communities as well. September of this year, three defendants pleaded guilty to forced labor and conspiracy to commit forced labor in Chicago. According to a press release from the Unites States Attorney’s Office Central District of Illinois,
These barriers make unoccupied minors very susceptible to of being trafficked for sexual, labor, or criminal exploitation. Instinct drives the minors into survival mode to make money for themselves along with having the pressure to send money back home. A lot of the time, the minors are sending money back home to their families but are in debt. Their debts usually come from sponsors for smuggling fees, rent and living expenses. This is a cycle that leads children into labor trafficking. Children being forced to work in dangerous jobs just to pay off the debts and support their families. The fact that they are children slides under the radar because companies rely of staffing agencies or temp agencies where it is not always a requirement to check social security numbers. There are circumstances where unoccupied children come into the US and Chicago by false pretenses only to be coerced into labor.
There is the notion that trafficking only occurs in far places, but it happens in our local communities as well. September of this year, three defendants pleaded guilty to forced labor and conspiracy to commit forced labor in Chicago. According to a press release from the Unites States Attorney’s Office Central District of Illinois,
“The defendants conspired to bring in two minors’ victims from Guatemala to the USA to work in their homes between December 2015 and March 2021. The defendants compelled the victims to provide domestic services within the homes and to work outside the homes at local hotels and factories. The defendants used false promises of a better life and an education to gain the permission of the victims’ mothers for their minor daughters to travel to the United States to live with the defendants. The defendants isolated the victims in their homes, restricted their communications with their family in Guatemala and subjected them to physical, verbal, and psychological abuse, among other coercive means.”
You may ask yourselves; how do we prevent this from happening to the migrants coming into Chicago?
The Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force are working to train and inform local organizations on human trafficking, what to look out for and to help migrants know their rights. Heartland Alliance also has a residential program for undocumented minors coming into Chicago where they receive case management services, education, medical and clinical care while they are waiting to be united with their sponsor or family4. Additionally, Stop-It provides intensive case management to any survivor of trafficking and operates a drop-in center for female identified survivors aged 14-29. Most importantly, it is crucial that we work together to protect all migrants especially undocumented minors.
United States State Attorney’s Office Central District of Illinois (2023, September 11) “Illinois Family Members Plead Guilty to Kidnapping, Forced Labor and Conspiracy for Coercing Two Minors and a Third Victim in Years-Long Forced Labor Scheme”( Press Release)
[1]The City of Chicago, “FAQ’s”, Accessed December 13th, 2023, https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/texas-new-arrivals/home/faqs.html#:~:text=Why%20are%20individuals%20and%20families,%2C%20Colorado%2C%20and%20New%20York.
[2] Office of Refugee Resettlement, “Unaccompanied Children Released to Sponsors by State” (Dec. 2023), Accessed December 13th, 2023, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/grant-funding/unaccompanied-children-released-sponsors-state
[3] National Immigration Justice Center A Heartland Alliance Program, “Unaccompanied Immigrant Children” Accessed December 13th, 2023, https://immigrantjustice.org/issues/unaccompanied-immigrant-children
[4]https://www.heartlandalliance.org/program/unaccompanied-children/#:~:text=The%20Unaccompanied%20Children%20program%20provides,for%20immigrant%20and%20refugee%20children.
Author: Erica Miller, Assistant Program Manager, The Salvation Army STOP-IT Program